Abstract.

We investigate two identical Λ-type atoms in free space, and focus
on the entanglement between the two atoms. We derive a master equation for
the atomic subspace and solve it analytically to show how the spontaneous
emission from the two atoms system induces entanglement. The magnitude of
the entanglement and the steady state entanglement are found to be strongly
dependent on the initial states and the orientation of the dipoles of the
two atoms.